picayune

Petty; small-minded: “It had seemed picayune to get all bent out of shape organizing the household chores”(Barbara Kingsolver).

noun

A Spanish-American half-real piece formerly used in parts of the southern United States.

A five-cent piece.

Something of very little value; a trifle: not worth a picayune.

Origin of picayune

Louisiana French picaillon, small coin, from French, from Provençal picaioun, from picaio, money, perhaps from Old Provençal piquar, to jingle, clink, from Vulgar Latin *piccāre, to pierce; see pique .

Words near picayune in the dictionary

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“Do you seriously expect to start a rebellion with picayune stuff like that?” “It’s not picayune stuff, because it acts directly on their emotions, below the logical level. You can sway a thousand men by appealing to their prejudices quicker than you can convince one man by logic. It doesn’t have to be a prejudice about an important matter either. Robert A. Heinlein